§ 28. Dr.SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of Essex county council's budgetary overspend on social services on waiting times in Essex hospitals.
§ Mr. MaloneWe have made no comprehensive assessment of this impact but recent visits to two otherwise well-run national health service trusts in Essex have made it clear to me that the county council's failure to make arrangements for discharge of patients is having a direct impact on hospitals' ability to admit new patients for elective surgery.